Life in "Progress" City - San Francisco edition

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Who did he vote for? #410

What kind of dumbass would drop his daughter to catch a foul ball?




So in 2008, did this mental giant vote for McCain or Obama?

Why Weiner's weiner matters

Over at Neo Neocon comes this post on Weinergate...........

I’m sure Weiner cares, and I’m sure his wife cares. But the only thing that is of moderate interest to me is the fact that a significant portion of the right side of the blogosphere is so firmly convinced that Weiner (a man of the liberal persuasion) is at fault here that almost no amount of proof could convince them otherwise. And I am just as firmly convinced that, if the parties were reversed, it would be the left side of the blogosphere doing the same thing, and that it would be an even bigger story in the MSM.

And I’m also moderately certain that part of the attraction to the story is the Congressman’s last name, plus the fact that the whole thing occurred on Twitter, a word that seems to bring to mind a combination of “titter,” “twit,” and “titillate.”

I am also aware that politicians are unusually susceptible to the seductions of seduction coupled with power. But I have come to the point of not caring, unless (and the following list is not necessarily all-inclusive, but it’s all I can think of at the moment) (a) the act involved is with an employee and constitutes some sort of abuse of power; and/or (b) it is accompanied by coercion or violence, as with the allegations about Strauss-Kahn (remember him?); and/or (c) the recipient of the attentions is underage; and/or (d) the perpetrator is a crusader against the acts in question (especially if such acts are illegal), such as Eliot Spitzer using call girls.

If you read this blog enough you know that I am a big proponent of don't ask, don't tell. Frankly, I don't want to know who Meredith Baxter, Bob Dole, Hugh Hefner, Rosie O'Donnell, Kevin Spacey, Ricky Martin, Lady Gay Gay or anyone else is having sex with. Actually, the whole thought of most people having sex with anyone makes me want to jab a red hot poker into my brain.

But if you read this blog, you also know that I have a theory that with politicians it's not the things they tell you that empowers them but the things they won't. Barney Frank is gay. Has that stopped him from being elected? But when Larry "give me three taps" Craig is trolling department store bathroom stalls, he loses his job. Why? Because if you are so ashamed of your sexual conduct that you will do whatever it takes to protect it's privacy, you are now the target of extortion and blackmail in public office.

What if a lobbyist has pictures of Weiner's weiner in a compromising position and he is willing to be blackmailed into supporting their agenda to keep his wife from finding out?

That's why it matters.

Trust me, I don't seek out pictures of some guy's junk for shits and giggles. But just watch Weiner wiggle and tell me what he will or won't do to protect his sexual proclivities from being exposed?

Plus the whole name thing makes it too funny.

Animal Farm

Let's call Hillary Old Major

Limousines, the very symbol of wealth and excess, are usually the domain of corporate executives and the rich. But the number of limos owned by Uncle Sam increased by 73 percent during the first two years of the Obama administration, according to an analysis of records by iWatch News.

Most of the increase was recorded in Hillary Clinton’s State Department.

Obama administration officials said most of the increase reflects an enhanced effort to protect diplomats and other government officials in a dangerous world. But a watchdog group says the abundance of limos sends the wrong message in the midst of a budget crisis. The increase in limos comes to light on the heels of an executive order from President Obama last week that charges agencies to increase the fuel efficiency of their fleets.

Passengers calls are for the little people.

More......

New DNC Chair Faults GOP for Wanting Illegal Immigration to be a Crime

Ball Park Franks

They plump when you cook 'em.

Or in Wiener's case ........when the media cooks his........

What's your grade?

A new survey shows strained relationships between senior career federal managers and executives and the political appointees they work with.

In the survey, respondents rated Obama appointees lower than those in previous administrations. Obama appointees earned a C average, or 2.0, compared with a 2.3 for those in the George W. Bush and Clinton administrations. More than 30 percent gave Obama appointees a D or an F for overall job performance, while only 20 percent awarded past appointees such low marks.

The study, conducted in April by Government Executive's research division, the Government Business Council, involved surveying 148 Senior Executive Service members and GS-15s about their attitudes toward current challenges and Obama administration initiatives.

The survey revealed skepticism about the ability of current political appointees to improve agency performance. One respondent said, "The role [of senior leadership] has increased, but the effectiveness, skill and knowledge has dramatically decreased."

Obama officials lack functional and agency-specific knowledge, according to survey respondents. Nearly 60 percent of respondents gave Obama appointees a grade of C or lower for their functional expertise, with less than 37 percent giving them A or B grades. Many believe appointees don't understand human resources and procurement rules, saying they presume the "institution is there as an obstruction" and attempt to "break organizations."

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Stuff liberals run - public education

Cheyanna Wilson graduated from Chicago’s Curie High School with a 3.0 grade-point average that included a B in a “College Algebra” class.

At Malcolm X College, where she enrolled to earn an associate’s degree in accounting, she did not meet basic math requirements. Before she could take accounting classes, she needed to take — and pay for — a non-credit remedial math course.

“I’d be in the math class I need to graduate now” if not for the remedial class, said Wilson, 21. As many as one-third of students entering higher education need to take some sort of remedial or developmental course, a class in the basics of reading, English or math covering material they should have learned in high school, according to a recent report by the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington, D.C.-based policy group. While most four-year private and public universities offer remediation, the bulk of remedial work is done by community colleges, whose doors are open to anyone with a high school diploma or GED.

“It’s like a track meet where you have [students] run another lap to get to the start line instead of moving toward the finish line,” said Bob Wise, Alliance president.

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Why not drill?

I can understand why the Obamunists want to halt drilling in the Gulf. Afterall, you need only look at all the damage done by the worst ecological disaster in history to understand that it wasn't really all that bad...............

“There’s just no data to suggest this is an environmental disaster,” said marine scientist and former Louisiana State University professor Ivor van Heerden, who also works as a BP spill-response contractor. “I have no interest in making BP look good - I think they lied about the size of the spill - but we’re not seeing catastrophic impacts. There’s a lot of hype, but no evidence to justify it.”

These observations came not a year after the Deepwater Horizon blew up, but a mere three months afterward, making them all the more blasphemous at the time. By now they’ve been amply vindicated, making the Obama team’s “moratorium” and more recent stonewalling on Gulf of Mexico drilling permits all the more preposterous.

I grew up in southern Louisiana and spend most weekends along the Louisiana coast hooking, spearing, gaffing, blasting and otherwise assassinating the raw ingredients of family meals. So I have more than a casual concern with the BP oil spill.

The reasons this “disaster” fizzled out are many and were apparent to non-hack scientists from the get-go.

“People don’t comprehend how so much oil could break down in such a short time period,” explains LuAnn White, a toxicologist with the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine who also serves as director of the Center for Applied Environmental Health. “But we have natural oil seeps in the Gulf, and over 200 genera of microbes that break down oil already exist there.”

More......

My take on Wienergate

If you've checked out any conservative blogs over the past few days, you've no doubt run into the story of how a photo of Anthony Weiner's junk managed to hit a Twitter page of a young women he was "following".

I'm not a Facebook or Twitter junkie even though I have an account so maybe I'm missing something here that the general news media understands.

What the hell is Anthony Weiner doing "following" so many young women he's allegedly never met?

Gateway Pundit has a list of the women (including a porn star) Weiner is "following". Now none of the women seem to be of the type to have a worthwhile take on human rights in the Sudan or balancing the budget or the Voting Rights Act or Defense Strategy. So why would Weiner be following any of these babes?

In fact, many of these women bear an uncanny resemblance to Snooki and it's not like she's spewing an in depth world view.

I don't know what his marriage is like but I can tell you that if the lovely Mrs. Gekko saw a whole bunch of twenty somethings I was following on one of these accounts there would be some serious splainin' to do.

Despite his denials, the fact that he's not using his power to find out who's responsible for this hacking is an indication that he's the one responsible.

I wonder how many in the national media will give this the attention they gave Larry Craig?

Memorial Day

I'm not exactly sure why, but over the years my favorite holidays have shifted from "celebratory" holidays like 4th of July and Christmas to more "reflective" holidays like Thanksgiving, Easter and Memorial Day.

Regardless, this day doesn't pass for me without some momentary thought about the people who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country.

At the risk of being attacked for practicing jingoism, I still believe that it means something to be an American; and it's something pretty great.

But none of that can happen without people dying for that greatness.

So in the midst of having a few beers on a day off, I hope all of us take a moment of reflective time to recognize our great country and the people who died defending our values.

Life in "Progress" City - Miami edition

Welcome to Kandahar..... er ..... Miami

MSNBC Guest: 'Race' A Factor In Republican Support For Herman Cain

My Litmus Test

When voting for a president, especially the republican nominee I have really only one litmus test issue.

It's not abortion
It's not the war(s)
It's not the economy

It's ethanol subsidies. Support for the unsupportable just so you wrangle a few caucuses out of Iowa is a non starter for me. It really shows that you lack the fortitude to do what's right even when not all that popular.

Not that I was a fan of Mitt Romney to begin with (I thought his shameless campaign in Michigan where he told all those voters he could bring back the auto industry was disgusting) but this throws him out of contention for me......

On his first trip back to the nation's first voting state as a soon-to-be declared presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney reaffirmed his support for federal ethanol subsidies -- an always important campaign issue in Iowa that figures to take on an even more central role in the divided GOP field.

"I support the subsidy of ethanol," Romney told a potential voter after an event here was cut short by a fire alarm. "I believe ethanol is an important part of our energy solution in this country."

See, true conservatives have an adjective for corn; food. It's not a metal, it's not a mineral, it's not a stripper's name, it's not a surgical instrument and it's definitely not a fuel.

If Romney can get that, then he doesn't have my support.

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Ghostbusters - The Private Sector

Why businesses aren't hiring

From the conversations I've had with lot's of clients and prospects, I can tell you that this is spot on.............

The man in the aisle seat is trying to tell me why he refuses to hire anybody. His business is successful, he says, as the 737 cruises smoothly eastward. Demand for his product is up. But he still won’t hire.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know how much it will cost,” he explains. “How can I hire new workers today, when I don’t know how much they will cost me tomorrow?”

He’s referring not to wages, but to regulation: He has no way of telling what new rules will go into effect when. His business, although it covers several states, operates on low margins. He can’t afford to take the chance of losing what little profit there is to the next round of regulatory changes. And so he’s hiring nobody until he has some certainty about cost.

It's really an important read. Finish it here........

Blue state exodus - New York

Massachusetts isn't the only state beset by a talent drain from young people looking to move because of the high cost of living --- New York could face a similar challenge.

According to the latest NY1/YNN-Marist Poll of New York State, 36 percent of New Yorkers under 30 years old say they're likely to move to another state.

The survey looked at New York state residents of all ages. Of residents who expect to leave New York, 62 percent cited economic reasons such as jobs, the cost of living, or taxes, the poll found.

(This telephone survey of 941 New York State adults was conducted on April 25 through April 29, Marist said.)

"Right now, many young people do not see their future in New York State,” Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said in a statement. “Unchecked, this threatens to drain the state of the next generation.”

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Why I will never support public employee unions

In Ohio, we're probably going to be asked to vote on union rules for government workers in our next general election.

For many of us, we'll have a story like this one to remember on voting day..........

A mail carrier who was caught using a yard as his personal toilet will not be fired.

The incident happened last month at a home in southeast Portland and a neighbor, Don Derfler, captured the man in the act with his camera.

Derfler had been waiting for his babysitter when he saw his mailman acting odd at his neighbor's house across the street. The postal worker then pulled down his pants and that's when Derfler began snapping pictures.

"We trust people like the postal service and meter readers and people of that nature," Derfler told us when we interviewed him in April. "To come on to our property and to defecate - it's just wrong."

The incident was an embarrassment to the post office and the worker was immediately placed on unpaid leave. Now, a decision has been made to keep the worker but he will be transferred to a different route.

A spokesperson said the administrative action was taken based on a postal service investigation but he did not elaborate. He also did not say which route the mail carrier has been assigned to cover.

So when a union member tells you he can shit in your yard and get away with it........he means it.

Hopefully, this guy stays in "Progress" City.

More.....

Animal Farm II

Meet Barney Frank or in Animal Farm vernacular we'll call him "Snowball"............

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank admitted he helped his ex-lover land a lucrative post with Fannie Mae in the early 1990s while the Newton Democrat was on a committee that regulated the lending giant — but he called questions of a potential ethical conflict “nonsense.”

“If it is (a conflict of interest), then much of Washington is involved (in conflicts),” Frank told the Herald last night. “It is a common thing in Washington for members of Congress to have spouses work for the federal government. There is no rule against it at all.”

Frank said he helped his former longtime companion, Herb Moses, land a job at Fannie Mae in 1991 after Moses graduated with a master’s degree in business administration from Dartmouth College. Frank said he was approached by a Fannie Mae executive and vouched for Moses, who formerly worked as an economist in the Department of Agriculture.

Is all right because Frank's championing of Fannie and Freddie it only cost the taxpayer's a couple of trillion dollars

Animal Farm I

I never knew until a few months ago that members of congress are exempt from insider trading laws.

Oh and how that pays lots of dividends, literally................

It’s no secret that members of Congress qualify as political insiders, but a new report strongly suggests that they also may be insiders when it comes to trading stocks.

An extensive study released Wednesday in the journal Business and Politics found that the investments of members of the House of Representatives outperformed those of the average investor by 55 basis points per month, or 6 percent annually, suggesting that lawmakers are taking advantage of inside information to fatten their stock portfolios.

“We find strong evidence that members of the House have some type of non-public information which they use for personal gain,” according to four academics who authored the study, “Abnormal Returns From the Common Stock Investments of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives.”

To the frustration of open-government advocates, lawmakers and their staff members largely have immunity from laws barring trading on insider knowledge that have sent many a private corporate chieftain to prison.

More.....

But I thought Tea Partiers were racist

This is indeed an amazing feat for the former Godfather's Pizza CEO, who many never heard of until he emerged from the South Carolina GOP debate as the Luntz poll group's winner. Mr. Cain still needs to convince the general public that he can beat President Barack Obama. Zogby reports, "Christie does best in a match-up with Obama, but trails, 45%-44%. Obama leads both Romney and Tim Pawlenty by 45%-40%. Obama is ahead of Cain, 46%-38%."

However, Mr. Cain is well on his way to show the United States he is indeed a serious candidate. The poll, in fact, shows Mr. Cain is polling outstandingly with tea party voters leading the pack and edging out Mr. Christie 25% to 18%.

How is that possible? Are these tea party folks so stupid they don't know this guy is black?

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It gets better for John Edwards

Yes there are two America's. One were you have to pay for your whores and one where someone else pays them for you..........

ABC's James Hill reports: John Edwards, while facing looming criminal indictment, spent the afternoon in Upperville, Virginia, visiting one of the key players in the alleged scheme to cover-up his affair.

Multiple sources at the estate of Rachel "Bunny" Mellon confirm to ABC News that the former North Carolina senator met Mellon today for lunch at her sprawling compound in Northern Virginia.

The purpose of the visit is unclear, but it is sure to raise eyebrows with federal investigators who have spent more than two years scrutinizing Mellon's contributions to Edwards and his presidential campaign. Attorneys for Edwards did not respond to requests for comment.

More......

When you stray from the liberal slave farm of thought

Pop star Adele (is she related to any one of the one named pop stars Pink, Duffy, Aisha, Ke$ha, etc.) is in trouble with the people of free speech..........

Is Adele the bravest, craziest, most downright wonderful star in the history of pop? After what she has just told Q magazine on the subject of tax, I think she might well be.

Here’s what she said: “I’m mortified to have to pay 50 per cent! [While] I use the NHS, I can’t use public transport any more. Trains are always late, most state schools are ––––, and I’ve gotta give you, like, four million quid – are you having a laugh? When I got my tax bill in from [her album] 19, I was ready to go and buy a gun and randomly open fire.”

The reaction from Guardian readers online has been typically unpleasant: “£4 million is nothing compared to the money the NHS needs for the psychological damage her painfully bad excuse for music has inflicted,” quips Ianl. “So not only a purveyor of boring mum soul, but a bloody Tory too?” says JohnnyVodka.

More.......

Maybe he was just "born that way"

College professor, Huffington Post contributor, and Sarah Palin hater, David Epstein copped a plea for a misdemeanor count of attempted incest..... with his adult daughter.

Now for those who believe that we should stay out of people's bedrooms how do you feel about incest with consenting adults? Is that staying out of people's bedrooms? If these people love each other, shouldn't they be able to marry and procreate instead of being prosecuted?

I'm not trying to justify this guy's sexual perversions. I'm simply pointing out the complete hypocrisy of the pro gay marriage crowd. I'm guessing that many of those folks would have serious problems with this guy getting his freak on with his daughter. But why? How are your stereotypes of incestuous relationships any different from those of people who are repulsed by gay lifestyles? Yet one is considered more "evolved" than the other.

Finally, why should anyone object to anyone's sexual proclivities when we've established that people are just "born that way"?

That's about right

A divided Jerusalem

This video is for those who want to trust that a Jerusalem divided between Jews and Muslims won't be a big deal. Let's go back in history and see how sensitive Muslims have been to other faith's religious artifacts.





Yeah, I think I'll stick with the Jews on this one.

Highway Robbery In Tennessee

Welcome to America



I just drove through yesterday. Fortunately, I still have my cash.

Thanks reader Jeremy for the link.

Reader Bernie RIP

I'm currently in Florida for some R&R and frankly I haven't been of the mood to post because of some bad news over the weekend.

In 1995, I left corporate America to run my own accounting tax/practice.

When I got into business at the age of 32, I still thought I knew it all. Until I met Bernie.

Bernie was a class act all the way. He left his company about a year after I started my practice. When we met he asked me what I thought of the asking price for a company he was looking to buy. When I told him I thought it was overpriced by about $100,000, you could see the wheels turning his head and then he casually turned to me and said he could make that up in a year.

That was the kind of guy he was.

He was always looking for a way to make something work. I guess that was the engineering background.

Bernie occasionally checked out the blog and sent me stuff he thought he would be of interest. But frankly he didn't have time for blogging because he was looking to do the next interesting project.

Bernie, died of cancer last weekend and I still seem to be stunned. See, if anyone could have figured out a way to beat cancer, it would be Bernie.

Now, a good friend and mentor is gone and the world is a lessor place because of it.

I don't worry about his afterlife because if God doesn't take care of Bernie, he's not taking care of any of us.

So Bernie, rest in peace. I can only hope to see you again.

It's a better use of federal funs to me.

I woke up this morning and it was raining at my palatial doublewide. Raining again. I belive we've had rain at least 40 days since April 1, so this seems appropriate and frankly a lesser waste of money than reality.......

As record rainfall continues in Cincinnati, city officials are scrambling to reallocate federal funds that were to be used for construction of a streetcar. The funds will be used to build an ark.

The plan to use federal money for a streetcar had come under fire by conservative anti-tax groups. These same groups are generally supportive of the ark building plan. “As long as there is no future burden on the taxpayers,” said anti-public transportation lobbyist Chris Flannery. “Saving our civilization from the destruction of an angry God via an ark may be a good use of this federal transportation money. Of course, we’re also going to have to insist that no union labor be used to build it. Other than that, let’s start lining up two by two.”

More......

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow: The Hoover Dam

Hey Rachel

Who are the people who would block construction of a project so large?

Hint, it ain't conservatives.

Berardino"GATE", AFL-CIO's Nick Berardino Admits to Intercepting Emails...

Life in "Progress" State - Michigan edition

A man who won $2 million on a Michigan lottery show has told a TV station that he still uses food stamps.

Leroy Fick of Bay County admitted he still swipes the electronic card at stores, nearly a year after winning a jackpot on "Make Me Rich!" He told WNEM-TV in Saginaw that more than half the prize went to taxes.

Fick says the Department of Human Services told him he could continue to use the card, which is paid with tax dollars. He told WNEM: "If you're going to ... try to make me feel bad, you aren't going to do it."

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Liberalism...... Killing the ones you love

For those who gloat about using science over politics, I wonder what do they think of this scientific study on the miminum wage..........

Increases in the minimum wage — which rose
10 cents to $7.40 an hour in Ohio this year — have priced young black men out of the entry-level job market more than twice as fast as their white counterparts, according to the study, based on figures reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 1994 to 2010.

The study found that for each 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, employment for young black males without a diploma fell by 6.5 percent. By comparison, the drop in employment was 2.5 percent for white males ages 16-24 with no diploma, and 1.2 percent for
Hispanics.

Even blacks who remained on payrolls after minimum wage increases saw their hours cut back more than any other group in the survey, which concluded that for each 10 percent increase in the minimum
wage, hours were reduced by 6.6 percent for young black males, 3 percent for white males and 1.7 percent for Hispanics.

“Our study suggests that when the minimum wage goes up, it causes the difference between black and white unemployment rates to rise,” Even said.

More.....

Who's the racist?

Obama White House Hands Out 111 Obamacare Waivers- Hides It on Website

Obamacare is so good for everyone, we'll let everyone opt out.

He proved he was a Kennedy at heart

Last week, it came out that Arnold Schwarzenegger and his longtime wife Maria Shriver were splitting up.

Today: the next shoe drops.

The LA Times reports that Arnold Schwarzenegger has had a love child with a member of his houshold staff for over a decade, and that up until recently, Shriver had no idea.

http://www.businessinsider.com/revealed-arnold-schwarzenegger-had-secret-love-child-for-years-with-member-of-household-staff-2011-5#ixzz1McPnpfl5

Just like a porn movie

If you are a guy, you've probably watched a porn movie where an anonymous cleaning woman steps into your hotel room while you're showering and decides to have sex with you before she even knows your name.

Apparently, the French don't read porn, they live it........

Strauss-Kahn, meanwhile, says he didn't force himself on the chambermaid.

As he was deemed a flight risk and held without bail, his lawyer offered a hint at how he will be defended against the sex-assault rap.

"The forensic evidence, we believe, will not be consistent with a forcible encounter," big-shot attorney Benjamin Brafman said. "And we believe there is a very defensible case."

Prosecutor John McConnell described the accuser as a highly credible victim who "provided a very powerful and detailed account of the violent sexual assault."

So it looks like the French guy is going to use the Penthouse Forum defense........

"I never thought I would have a sexual experience to submit to the Forum until last night when a maid came into my hotel room.........."

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What am I missing?

Dear Chase Bank

I currently have a $20,000 credit card through your bank. In addition, I hold four other credit cards with credit limits of $20,000 each.

Currently, each of those cards are maxed out but I have a vacation scheduled for the next week and I have no available funds to take such a vacation.

Based on the financial wisdom of Timothy Geithner, I believe that my personal financial health would be in jeopardy if your company doesn't increase the limit on the card I hold with you.

Apparently, the only way to guarantee that I pay you back what I currently owe you is for you to loan me more money.

So I am requesting that you increase my credit limit by $10,000 and when I get back from vacation, I'll be happy to sit down with my family and work on a repayment plan.

Thank you for your time.

One of your best customers,
Mr. I.M. Progressive

Krauthammer

Iowa Voter Chews Out Newt Gingrich After His Paul Ryan Attack

Life in "Progress" State - CA edition

And you thought Pam Anderson was on Baywatch to act? She probably got paid less than the real life guards......

High pay and benefits for lifeguards in Newport Beach is the latest example of frustrating levels of compensation for public employees. More than half the city’s full-time lifeguards are paid a salary of over $100,000 and all but one of them collect more than $100,000 in total compensation including benefits.

When thinking about career options with high salaries, lifeguarding is probably not one of the first jobs to come to mind. But it apparently should. In one of Orange County’s most desirable beach destinations, Newport Beach, lifeguards are compensated all too well; especially compared with the county annual median household income of $71,735.

It might be time for a career change.

According to a city report on lifeguard pay for the calendar year 2010, of the 14 full-time lifeguards, 13 collected more than $120,000 in total compensation; one lifeguard collected $98,160.65. More than half the lifeguards collected more than $150,000 for 2010 with the two highest-paid collecting $211,451 and $203,481 in total compensation respectively. Even excluding benefits like health care and pension, more than half the lifeguards receive a total salary, including overtime pay, exceeding $100,000. And they also receive an annual allowance of $400 for “Sun Protection.” Many work four days a week, 10 hours a day.

Lifeguarding in Newport Beach is a pretty good gig, if you can get it.

More....

When governments get involved

It's like Mrs. Kravitz putting her nose where it doesn't belong.....

The government's recent $8,000 cash incentive for first-time home buyers has proved even more costly for recipients than for taxpayers, according to data released Monday. Typical buyers have lost twice as much to price declines as they received from the program.

The median home value fell to about $170,000 in March from $185,000 a year earlier, according to Zillow.com. That means a buyer who closed on a house just before the tax-credit program expired in April 2010 collected $8,000 but has since lost $15,000 in value. Those who bought earlier in the program have done worse; the median price is down $20,000 from March 2009.

"The $8,000 first-time home buyers tax credit . . . has brought many new families into the housing market," the White House boasted in November 2009 upon announcing an extension and expansion of the program. Judging by sales declines since, that seems beyond doubt. Over the past year, the pace of existing home sales has fallen more than 6% and that of new home sales has fallen 22%.

The credit wasn't great for taxpayers, either. IRS says it paid $26 billion in home buyer credits in 2009 and 2010, enough to cover the maximum $8,000 credit for more than 3 million buyers. (It says at least $513 million went for fraudulent claims. Some claimants hadn't bought houses. Some filed twice. Some were under age 18 or incarcerated.)

In October 2009, when the extension of the $8,000 credit for homebuyers was under consideration, I outlined five reasons the U.S. didn't need more housing perks. These included already-high prices and an abundance of benefits, the questionable stimulus value of home subsidies and a gaping budget deficit. In January 2010, with the extension passed, I recommended that eager buyers wait at least nine months and purposely miss the $8,000 tax credit deadline to take advantage of price declines after. The median price fell about $8,000 over the next nine months and another $8,000 since.

So now let's work through this. Who really made out on the credit? Was it poor people who were able to buy a first time home, or those home owners who were able to sell their homes at inflated prices?

All this program did was bastardized a housing market that needs to hit rock bottom sooner rather than later.

Where have we seen this before?

If the name cash for clunkers means anything, start there.

More...

Boomerang Kids - NTTV Nightly News

What the hell, the parents get to cover their kids on their health insurance until 26 anyway.

Oh, by the way, for all you soon to be college grads who supported that "hope and change".........

Welcome home.

What do we nicknames these people?

We've had truthers, birthers and now these clowns.....

It's been only two weeks since President Obama reported on national television that an American commando team in four military helicopters had killed Osama bin Laden in his Pakistan bedroom. Within literally minutes, word of the terrorist's death by gunshot prompted seemingly spontaneous street celebrations outside the White House and elsewhere.

Now comes word from noted pollster John Zogby that while an overwhelming majority buys the administration's account, a surprising almost one-in-five likely American voters believes the Al Qaeda founder is not dead at all, nor buried at sea, as Obama officials have stated.

How could this possibly be?

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1 out of 3 ain't bad

I watched the Krauthammer take on Obama's immigration speech and generally agreed but this guy has a take on Krauthammer...........

So far so good. Then the bottom drops out. Krauthammer: "I count myself among those who really do mean it. I have little doubt that most Americans would be quite willing to regularize and legalize the current millions of illegal immigrants if they were convinced…that the border is under full operational control…" noting that Americans "are a generous people" and that "[U]pon receipt of objective and reliable evidence that the border is secure…the question would be settled and the immigrants legalized."

Americans are indeed a "generous people," Mr. Krauthammer. But they are not utterly stupid. Nor do they have amnesia. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 granted amnesty to 2.7 million illegal aliens then, ostensibly in return for stricter control of the border and harsher penalties on businesses who hired border-busters. What did we get? One-for-three, which is precisely why we now have an exponential increase in the number of illegals residing in America, who along with their enablers, are demanding, not requesting, amnesty.

And I use the word "exponential" instead of a hard number because Americans are also not buying the "conventional wisdom" that we currently have 11 million illegals in the country. That number is nothing more than another lie perpetrated by those on both sides of the aisle with a vested interest--as in cheap votes for Democrats, and cheap labor for Republicans--in satisfying the bankrupt desires of people who would toss America itself over the cliff to enhance their political power or satisfy their financial greed.

Question, Mr. Krauthammer. Do numbers matter? Does your sense of American generosity remain unperturbed if we're talking about 30 million illegals--or more? Does it include "chain migration" or "family re-unification" by which those granted amnesty could bring their extended families to America as well? Perhaps these are inconvenient questions in Washington, D.C., but they're substantially less inconvenient to millions upon millions of unemployed and under-employed Americans. They're substantially less inconvenient to people whose communities are under assault, or those who have been directly victimized by illegals' criminal activity, or those disgusted by politicians who grant privileges to illegals unavailable to American citizens.

Once again my take on immigration. We have a border for a reason. The federal government has a duty to secure that border and to ensure that anyone who comes in is someone we desire to come in.

I have clients from at least the following countries Jamaica, Mexico, Columbia, Kuwait, Canada, Costa Rica, Pakistan, France, Great Britain. I wouldn't care if we allow 30 millions of these immigrants to become citizens because all of them have the following

1) criminal background checks
2) screenings for infectious diseases
3) sponsors who have jobs waiting for them
4) went through the legal process as it exists today

I hate amnesty programs of any type. The city of Cincinnati recently approved an amnesty program for delinquent parking tickets. What does it communicate to the people who received a ticket and paid it promptly?

It says "you are a dumbass!"

Seriously, why have any respect for the law when there's no penalty for not following it.

The demogoging of this issue by democrats to accuse strong border proponents of being racist is losing it's wind.


Read the whole piece.

Animal Farm

Nothing says distributing the wealth more than staying in a $3000 a night hotel suite and raping the housekeeper...........

The arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on charges of sexually assaulting a hotel cleaning woman in New York City is a personal humiliation for the French politician, but it is also a black mark on the International Monetary Fund that chose to overlook his previous sexual behavior. It will be fascinating to see how the grandees of French and international financial politics handle this one.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and his attorney says he will plead not guilty. Some in the French press and even a French government minister are suggesting that the 62-year-old Socialist Party panjandrum may have been set up by his rivals. The charges are stunning enough—and French politics is strange enough—that we suppose anything is possible, but such a conspiracy would have to include a large number of players.

The facts of the case as reported by New York police so far do not look promising for the IMF managing director. The woman who entered to clean the Frenchman's $3,000-a-night Sofitel suite at midday on Saturday reported the incident immediately. She told police that Mr. Strauss-Kahn emerged naked from the bathroom, pursued her down a hallway and pulled her into the bedroom. She escaped and he then chased her again and dragged her into a bathroom.

I guess for this clown "sharing the wealth" has a different meaning.

Since he's French, let's call him Napolean.


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Life in "Progress" State - CA edition

When the LA Times doesn't even have you back, what does it say..........

California's much-vaunted high-speed rail project is, to put it bluntly, a train wreck. Intended to demonstrate the state's commitment to sustainable, cutting-edge transportation systems, and to show that the U.S. can build rail networks as sophisticated as those in Europe and Asia, it is instead a monument to the ways poor planning, mismanagement and political interference can screw up major public works. For anti-government conservatives, it is also a powerful argument for scrapping President Obama's national rail plans, rescinding federal funding and canceling the project before any more money is wasted on it.

In other words. It's just another liberal boondoggle.

But that's not what's hilarious here. check this line out.............

We pointed out back in 2008, before voters approved nearly $10 billion in state bonds to fund the project under Proposition 1A, that it would be more expensive and difficult to build than its backers were letting on. But we endorsed it anyway because of the economic and environmental benefits the train could bring.

In other words, "we don't care what the costs.... we want a pony"


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Who did they vote for? #51

Meet Gloria and Whitney. Why are they in the news?

Deputies say a Fort Myers woman arrested last week on more than a dozen charges was also hiding a knife in her vagina.

Gloria Esther Perez, 28, is facing eight counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, four counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, two counts of carrying a concealed weapon and a count of disturbing the peace.

Deputies said the arrest stemmed from an altercation in the street between Perez and Whitney Noelle Krimmel, 26.

Krimmel is also facing several charges including 25 counts of drug possession, 11 counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, one count of battery, one count of domestic violence and a count of giving false identification to a law enforcement officer.

So when these ladies voted during the last presidential election, did the cast their ballots for The One or The Maverick?

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Thanks reader Jeremy for the salacious details.

Obama: Nothing More Important Than A Government Job

What Would Gary Johnson Do to Balance USA's Checkbook ... and Could He H...

Life in "Progress" Country - Ireland edition

May this be a lesson to those of you who don't believe that the feds won't come after our Roth IRA's or 401k's before we get our hands on them...........

The Irish government plans to institute a tax on private pensions to drive jobs growth, according to its jobs program strategy, delivered today.

Without the ability sell debt due to soaring interest rates, and with severe spending rules in place due to its EU-IMF bailout, Ireland has few ways of spending to stimulate the economy. Today's jobs program includes specific tax increases, including the tax on pensions, aimed at keeping government jobs spending from adding to the national debt.

The tax on private pensions will be 0.6%, and last for four years, according to the report.

Anyone want to lay money that this doesn't go away in four years?

Mr./Ms. "Progressive" ask yourself this question does this tax impact the Warren Buffett's of the world more than retired citizens who rely on these pensions for their support?


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Life in "Progress' State - California edition

Seriously, doe anyone responsible for budgeting ever step back and say. Man, these employees are making too much money........

High pay and benefits for lifeguards in Newport Beach is the latest example of frustrating levels of compensation for public employees. More than half the city’s full-time lifeguards are paid a salary of over $100,000 and all but one of them collect more than $100,000 in total compensation including benefits.

When thinking about career options with high salaries, lifeguarding is probably not one of the first jobs to come to mind. But it apparently should. In one of Orange County’s most desirable beach destinations, Newport Beach, lifeguards are compensated all too well; especially compared with the county annual median household income of $71,735.

It might be time for a career change.

According to a city report on lifeguard pay for the calendar year 2010, of the 14 full-time lifeguards, 13 collected more than $120,000 in total compensation; one lifeguard collected $98,160.65. More than half the lifeguards collected more than $150,000 for 2010 with the two highest-paid collecting $211,451 and $203,481 in total compensation respectively. Even excluding benefits like health care and pension, more than half the lifeguards receive a total salary, including overtime pay, exceeding $100,000. And they also receive an annual allowance of $400 for “Sun Protection.” Many work four days a week, 10 hours a day.

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Life in "Progress" City - Detroit edition

At my crazy, Walmart store they cater to the gun clinging rednecks by selling guns, ammunition and Bibles.

What customers do "Progress" City stores attempt to attract........?

Be careful of what’s being sold under the counter.

Crack pipes are being sold at neighborhood stores from Detroit to the suburbs.

That’s according to former Detroit police officer David Mahalab, who says the pipes are disguised as novelties.

“To avoid police detection and to try to avoid the law, they put a pen insert – (in) a glass tube, and try to evade the law, which talks about paraphernalia and stuff that has a second use,” says Mahalab.

Mahalab says they’re also disguised as a ballpoint pen or small glass vases with a rose sticking out of them.

Mahalab says people may be surprised where the pipes are being sold.

“Dollar stores, gas stations, liquor stores, virtually every store in the 6th Precinct that I did enforcement with, were given a ticket and found guilty. I’ve seen them in Allen Park, Dearborn Heights and Garden City,” says Mahalab.

Mahalab says the pipe sales are lucrative, but bring crack addicts and crime to neighborhoods.

Now I'm thinking that at my local "Redville" gas stations by the flashing red lights they don't sell crack pipes because there's no demand.

Maybe the store's are going to their customers and not vice versa.......

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Life in "Progress" City - Cleveland edition

I think I'll slap the crap out of the next person who tells me "it's for the children"...........

The Cleveland Municipal School District, scratching for every penny, could use the nearly $5 million paid to employees who have retired since last summer.

Records show that 269 employees cashed in that amount of accumulated vacation and sick leave since the fiscal year started July 1. Topping the list are two administrators who each collected about $83,000, one after working in the system for four years.

Nearly 70 percent of the employees picked up at least $10,000 in what the district calls severance; more than 40 percent received $20,000 or more.

All redeemed the time based on their final pay rates, no matter when during their careers the leave was accumulated. At least 24 employees who retired were rehired, a practice popularly known as "double dipping."

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Life in "Progress" State - Illinois edition

No one apparently knows where the hell John Galt is but you can probably be certain you won't find him in Illinois........

First, State Farm locating jobs out of Illinois........

State Farm plans to close two-dozen field offices in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan where 1,300 people work to save $8 million over the next five years.While about 530 workers in Chicago-area offices will be commuting to a different facility in suburban Downers Grove, about 250 workers elsewhere in Illinois would have to transfer to Indianapolis......

Second, Sears looking to relocate........

Sears Holdings Corp. is researching a possible move outside the state of Illinois.

Sears spokesman Chris Brathwaite said Monday that the retailer has had preliminary discussions with the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, where it is located. Sears also has comissioned an economic impact study. The Daily Herald newspaper reports state and local incentives that Sears receives will expire in 2012.

What's so "Progressive" about companies leaving your state?

Life in "Progress" State - California edition

Things are tough in the Golden State with all those billions in debt and all. But apparently, things aren't so dire that the state can't afford some love to one of the most pressing issues around.......

Chances are, the last time you flopped down on one of those lush hotel beds, replete with a pillow-top mattress, high thread-count sheets, down comforter and mounds of fluffy pillows, you weren’t wondering, flat — or fitted.

Yet, that’s at the core of a debate that will consume state legislators beginning next Monday when a committee will ponder a labor union-backed bill mandating the use of fitted bottom sheets in all hotel rooms.

The way union leaders see it, such sheets – common in households across America but far less so in hotels – will help ease the backbreaking work that defines a housekeeper’s job. Hoteliers, who say the mandate could cost the industry $20 million statewide, call it a ridiculous, unnecessary piece of legislation that is sidetracking politicians from far more pressing work like balancing the state budget.

Thanks reader Jeremy for the heads up.


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Bridge Cards for college students over

Life in "Progress" City - San Francisco edition

So what does rent control do for your supply of housing units?

Just look at what it's done to San Francisco...........

Increasingly, small-time landlords like Koniuk are just giving up. One of his Divisadero Street neighbors has left two large apartments on the second and third floors of her building vacant for more than a decade, after a series of tenant difficulties. It’s just not worth the bother, or the risk, of being legally tied to a tenant for decades.

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/12lM2)

Increasingly, small-time landlords like Koniuk are just giving up. One of his Divisadero Street neighbors has left two large apartments on the second and third floors of her building vacant for more than a decade, after a series of tenant difficulties. It’s just not worth the bother, or the risk, of being legally tied to a tenant for decades.

From The Bay Citizen (share this quote)

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Increasingly, small-time landlords like Koniuk are just giving up. One of his Divisadero Street neighbors has left two large apartments on the second and third floors of her building vacant for more than a decade, after a series of tenant difficulties. It’s just not worth the bother, or the risk, of being legally tied to a tenant for decades.

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/12lM2)

What your tax dollars fund

Oh, you don't pay them directly, but your tax dollars fund teacher's salaries who in turn, fund the OEA who publish this kind of nonsense.........

Of particular interest is the section titled

How to Integrate Social Justice into Math Class

Seriously, are we teaching or indoctrinating kids?

Life in "Progress" City - Cincinnati edition

Brenda Raines pointed at a crack in her windshield.

That happened about a month ago, she said, as she drove on River Road under the Sixth Street Viaduct.

Raines' frustration only deepened after news broke this week that a $66.5 million project to replace it would have been pushed back because of political wrangling over a proposed rail-to-river barge terminal.

That issue was resolved Thursday after an amendment that would have blocked funding was nixed by the Ohio House.

The 53-year-old bridge, also called the Waldvogel Viaduct, is a main thoroughfare between Cincinnati's West Side to Downtown, carrying 28,000 vehicles a day. It is the city's worst bridge, officials said, and is in dire need of repair.

For years the viaduct has held the unsavory title of being the only bridge maintained by the city that is rated in "poor" condition. On a scale of 0-9, with nine being the best condition, it was rated three this year, said Michael Moore, director of Cincinnati's Department of Transportation and Engineering.

So no one has 65 million to fund crumbling infrastructure but in "Progress" City there's plenty of city money to throw around for a rail line that won't service 28,000 people for an entire year!

Here's the proposal for how the city plans to fund their Thomas the Tank Engine boondoggle............

What We Have
Urban Circulator Grant $ 25 million
OKI CMAQ Grant $ 4 million
City Bond Financing$ 64 million
Private funding (Duke)$ 6.5 million
Total $ 99.5million

So the city has the ability to borrow 64 million to fund "Gordon" Mallory's pet project but will not do anything to fund a vital artery into town unless someone else pays for it.

Now that's "progressive"!

Life in "Progress" City - Chicago edition

Chicago last week surpassed 100 homicides for 2011, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found.

The 100th homicide victim was a 25-year-old man shot to death April 27 in the 3900 block of West Thomas Street in Humboldt Park, RedEye determined, based on police data. A 26-year-old man was fatally shot in the 3600 block of West Harrison Street in East Garfield Park later that evening, police said.

Just how is it that nearly everyone in little "Redville" enclave is a gun clinging red neck and yet we have had no shootings in years?

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A lib confronts reality

A true lib addresses the contradictions in ecofascist thinking...........

“All of us in the environment movement, in other words – whether we propose accommodation, radical downsizing or collapse – are lost. None of us yet has a convincing account of how humanity can get out of this mess. None of our chosen solutions break the atomising, planet-wrecking project. I hope that by laying out the problem I can encourage us to address it more logically, to abandon magical thinking and to recognise the contradictions we confront. But even that could be a tall order.”

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Life in "Progress" City - Detroit edition

According to a new report, 47 percent of Detroiters are ”functionally illiterate.” The alarming new statistics were released by the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund on Wednesday.

WWJ Newsradio 950 spoke with the Fund’s Director, Karen Tyler-Ruiz, who explained exactly what this means.

“Not able to fill out basic forms, for getting a job — those types of basic everyday (things). Reading a prescription; what’s on the bottle, how many you should take… just your basic everyday tasks,” she said.

“I don’t really know how they get by, but they do. Are they getting by well? Well, that’s another question,” Tyler-Ruiz said.

Some of the Detroit suburbs also have high numbers of functionally illiterate: 34 percent in Pontiac and 24 percent in Southfield.

“For other major urban areas, we are a little bit on the high side… We compare, slightly higher, to Washington D.C.’s urban population, in certain ZIP codes in Washington D.C. and in Cleveland,” she said.

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Obamanomics 101

Growth in the food stamp program appeared to reach a plateau in February — with 14.3% of the population relying on the safety net program.

The number of food stamp recipients was essentially flat in February, the most recent month available, with 44.2 million Americans receiving benefits, according a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (See a sortable breakdown of the data here.)

The food stamp program ballooned during the recession as workers lost their jobs or saw their hours and income reduced. The rise in recipients has begun to flatten in recent months, which may mean that as the economy is improving fewer Americans are seeking to join the program. Enrollment in the program is still high though, with 11.6% more people tapping benefits in February than the same month a year earlier.

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Crush non union extended cut

Obama's greatest hits

The last time I posted Obama's Greatest Hits (April 4th) gas was $3.89 a gallon. Now it's $4.21. Hey Peggy...... are you worried about your mortgage and gas prices yet?

Obama: U.S. `Will Not Torture'

Peter King: Bin Laden's Death Came From Waterboarding

Thoughts on killing terrorists

I think what happened over the weekend to take out a worldwide terrorist was a good thing but I have some questions/comments to liberals out there.

1) If you are against capital punishment, how do you justify the assassination of a movement without a trial or even an arrest? Shouldn't those SEAL teams read some rights?

2) It appears that much of the intelligence to take this clown out came as a result of "enhanced interrogation techniques" or as you liberals came to call it..... torture. Was this torture worth it or are you going to give your leader a pass you wouldn't give his predecessor? If they had read these detainees their "rights" how much of that information do you think we would have received.

3) Remember the cries of how we invaded a sovereign nation (Iraq) who had nothing to do with 9/11. Remind me of what Pakistan's role in 9/11 was? In fact, the last I checked, I believe Pakistan was considered an ally.

4) Now that we've cut off the head of a snake, will the Code Pink, anti-war types show up at the White House in protest of the war(s).

Once again, this whole thing is a display of how liberal policies are some child like, fantasy land that cannot function in the real world. It actually took conservative policies to save the ass of another liberal. In other words.......... conservatives once again saving liberals from themselves.

Tis the season

Today is Ohio School District levy day where Ohioans across the state will go to the polls and vote on school levies.

Here are my predictions for today's holiday...........

1) probably 90% of the levies will go down in flames.

2) Despite the fact that Ohio's school funding formula has been ruled unconstitutional three times, liberals across the state will condemn people who vote against the levies.

3) Not one of those liberals who voted for a failed levy will donate a dime of their money to the cause they allegedly believe in.

While I'd like to think of myself as a prophet, it's a tried and true formula.

Can your government pension say this?

Over the weekend, I received a letter from my former employer indicating that my defined benefit pension plan is well funded and my benefit is safe.

How many people getting a public pension can say the same thing?

No celebration here

Apparently, a multinational terrorist has been captured and killed.

Forgive me if I'm not in the streets celebrating but frankly, that's what this multinational terrorist would want and I'm not really interested in giving him what he wants.

He loves the fact that he died in glory and now get to spend time with all his virgins.

Seeing all those people celebrate at ground zero looks as hideous to me as watching people in Islamabad celebrate the downing of the towers.

Actually, what I would like to have seen was this multinational terrorist's casket filled with his body and the boots of our dead soldiers and dumped into the ocean.

In addition, I'll give the president his due on this one. Good job and good riddance to that pile of crap.

Obama Weekly Address: Gas Prices

Veronique de Rugy Tells the Truth About Taxes and the Rich

Obamanomics 101

In addition to skyrocketing rent and gas prices, New Yorkers are being nickel and dimed to death, shelling out 21 cents more for a box of Corn Flakes, 29 cents more for a six-pack of beer, and about a buck extra to go to the movies. It even costs more to treat a headache than it did in 2010.

Costs are creeping upward for everything from a coffee-cart cup of Joe to a carton of milk to a TV dinner.

A Post analysis found that rent has risen 5 percent and a sampling of New Yorkers’ common purchases have jumped about 14 percent.

The average price of a regular gallon of gas in New York City was $4.21 Friday, compared with $3.08 a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/big_apple_gets_price_clubbed_BYF1ApF3ol3i4CuiQbDEoM#ixzz1L861P7oT